Local Injection Methylene Blue Combined With Radiation in HNSCC Patients

February 21, 2026 updated by: Ching Yun Hsieh, China Medical University Hospital

A Phase I Pilot Study of Tumor Local Injection Methylene Blue Combined With Radiation for Radiation Resistance Local Recurrent Head and Neck Cancer Squamous Cell Carcinoma

The goal of this clinical trial is to investigate the effectiveness of Methylene Blue (MB) as a radiosensitizer in treating head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) that has recurred locally and is resistant to radiation therapy. It will also assess the safety of Methylene Blue. The main questions it aims to answer are:

Does Methylene Blue improve the outcomes for patients with recurrent HNSCC receiving radiation therapy? What side effects do participants experience while receiving Methylene Blue?

Participants will:

Receive weekly injections of Methylene Blue or placebo into the tumor over six weeks.

Undergo six weeks of concurrent radiation therapy. Be monitored regularly for treatment effects and document any side effects experienced during the trial.

This single-center clinical trial intends to recruit 10 eligible patients diagnosed with locoregional recurrence of HNSCC that is resistant to previous radiotherapy.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
10

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Early Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Taiwan
    • Taiwan
      • Taichung, Taiwan, Taiwan, 404
        • China Medical University Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. . Histologically confirmed squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck.
  2. . Locoregional recurrence.
  3. . After standard treatment of R/M HNSCC.
  4. . Measurable disease. Defined as presence of at least one lesion as being ≥10 mm in at least one dimension measured with conventional computed tomography (CT) or ≥10 mm in at least one dimension measured with spiral CT scan or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
  5. . Lesion selection criteria - at least 1 lesion to be injected must be measurable and greater than or equal to 1.5 cm and longest diameter not exceed 10 cm in principle.
  6. . ECOG performance status ≤2.
  7. . Age ≧20 years old; and life expectancy of at least 12 weeks.
  8. . Prior treatments with radiation therapy for palliative management of non-target lesion metastatic disease is permitted provided that at least 2 weeks have elapsed since the last fraction of radiation therapy, disease progression has been documented and all treatment related adverse events are ≦ grade 1 at the time of registration.
  9. . Must not have received anticancer therapy used with an antineoplastic intent, including chemotherapy, immunotherapy, biologic, or any investigational therapy within 14 days prior to the first dose of study drug.
  10. . No history of allergic reactions attributed to methylene blue.
  11. . Patient consent must be obtained.
  12. . Negative pregnancy test, Fertile patients must use effective contraception.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. . Presence of central nervous system (CNS) metastases.
  2. . The organ function measured within 14 days prior to study entry as defined below: Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) less than 1,000/mm3, or platelets less than 100,000/mm3; serum bilirubin greater than 1.5 times the upper limit of normal range (ULN); alanine aminotransferase (ALT) or aspartate aminotransferase (AST) greater than 2.5 times the ULN if no demonstrable liver metastases, or greater than 5 times the ULN in the presence of liver metastases; creatinine clearance ≤40 ml/min.
  3. . Concomitant illness including uncontrolled infection or other active, uncontrolled disease such as congestive heart failure, angina pectoris, respiratory insufficiency, and arrhythmia.
  4. . Documented hypersensitivity to methylene blue compound or compounds of similar chemical or biologic composition.
  5. . Pregnant or lactating women.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Methylene blue intratumoral injection combined with radiation
Drug: Methylene Blue (50 mg/10ml)

  1. Methylene blue (50mg/10mL):

    Volume: 2 mL, 5 mL, 8 mL and 10mL are used for intratumoral injections in different lesion sizes.

    Frequency: weekly

  2. Radiation dose: 50-60 Gy for target lesions

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Any unexpected severe adverse event resulting from the combination treatment.
Time Frame: "through study completion, an average of 1 year"
The investigators specify that the key feasibility objectives for our study would be considered successful if the following are met: 80% of patients received methylene blue experience no unpredicted harm during the treatment of methylene blue. The definition of unpredicted harm includes death within one month after last dose of methylene blue administration, or unpredicted ≧ grade 3 AE during methylene blue administration. The severity of adverse events was assessed using CTCAE v5.0.
"through study completion, an average of 1 year"

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
China Medical University Hospital

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
China Medical University, Taiwan

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
August 1, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
December 31, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
June 30, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
November 22, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
February 21, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
February 27, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
February 27, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
February 21, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
October 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • CMUH114-REC1-108

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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